Global

Biden says U.S. will defend Taiwan militarily if China invades

By Orowo Victoria Ojieh with agency report

U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday said the United States would intervene militarily if China were to invade Taiwan. It was one of the most forceful and unconcealed statements of the American government in support of Taiwan in decades.

Taiwan President
Taiwan President

Biden said the burden to protect the self-ruled island was “even stronger” after Russia invaded Ukraine.

At a news conference in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, president Biden said “yes” when asked if he was willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan if China invaded. “That’s the commitment we made,” he added.

The U.S. traditionally has avoided making such an explicit security guarantee to Taiwan, with which it no longer has a mutual defence treaty, instead maintaining a policy of strategic ambiguity about how far it would be willing to go if China invaded.

Read Also: Osinbajo: Dishonest thesis

The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which has governed U.S. relations with the island, does not require the U.S. to step in militarily to defend Taiwan if China invades, but makes it American policy to ensure Taiwan has the resources to defend itself and to prevent any unilateral change of status in Taiwan by Beijing.

Biden’s comments drew a sharp response from China, which has claimed Taiwan to be a rogue province.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin expressed strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to Biden’s comments. “China has no room for compromise or concessions on issues involving China’s core interests such as sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

He added that “China will take firm action to safeguard its sovereignty and security interests, and we will do what we say.”

A White House official said Biden’s comments did not reflect a policy shift.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button
A note to our visitors

This website has updated its privacy policy in compliance with changes to European Union data protection law, for all members globally. We’ve also updated our Privacy Policy to give you more information about your rights and responsibilities with respect to your privacy and personal information. Please read this to review the updates about which cookies we use and what information we collect on our site. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our updated privacy policy.